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Old-fashioned lantana is a robust grower, blooming profusely then producing a crop of blue-black berries, which are poisonous. The earliest-blooming varieties of lantana tends to be sprawling, and flowering ceases when berries form. For full advantage of lantana's long-lasting, quarter-size clusters of flowers -- arranged concentric circles of different colors -- hybridists developed sterile, non-fruiting varieties with a more compact habit of growth. Some of the new hybird forms are prostrate or weeping, suitable for ground covers, hanging baskets or container gardens. A few of the new cultivars are both dwarf and weeping.

Montevidensis

Lantana montevidensis is a trailing species of lantana that grows 8 to 24 inches tall and spreads 5 to 6 feet. Characteristics of montevidensis are vine-like foliage and prolific production of yellow-eyed, lilac-pink flowers during most of the year in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8B to 11. In other locations, montevidensis is grown as an annual where it exhibits tolerance to poor soil, drought, wind, salt spray and high temperatures. Common names for this plant are weeping lantana and polecat geranium.

Montevidensis Cultivars

"Malan's Gold" has green and yellow foliage with tall-stalked, domed rose-pink blossoms. Bright yellow flowers are produced on "Pot of Gold," and white flowers are produced on "White Lightnin." "Lavender Swirl" has white flowers that deepen to pale lavender and rich lavender. Plant lantana in full sun in well-drained soil for best performance and to avoid root rot disease.

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Camara

Lantana camara is a more robust lantana than montevidensis, with strong stems and serrated, wrinkled leaves. Strongly scented and bearing colorful flower clusters of yellow, orange and pink bicolors on plants 3 to 6 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide, camara is a mound-forming perennial. Many recently introduced cultivars are hybrids of camara and montevidensis species, making many new colors and forms available for the home gardener.

Hybrids

Hybrids include many low, spreading cultivars such as "Clear White," the sterile "New Gold" -- blooming heavily with bright yellow flowers, and "Patriot Honeylove" with multi-colored flowers of pale pink, ivory and butter yellow. These plants are suitable for containers, baskets or trailing down a wall. "Patriot Popcorn" is a very dwarf cultivar growing 12 inches tall with a 24-inch spread. White and pale yellow flowers are produced abundantly. "Silver Mound" has creamy white flowers with yellow eyes. Keep newly plants watered. Avoid excessive fertilization, as too much fertilizer retards flowering.

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About the Author

For Judy Kilpatrick, gardening is the best mental health therapy of all. Combining her interests in both of these fields, Kilpatrick is a professional flower grower and a practicing, licensed mental health therapist. A graduate of East Carolina University, Kilpatrick writes for national and regional publications.